Leviathan Series, Installation 2017

This body of work connects old narratives and new cultural assessments of female sexuality while investigating the integration of creation and destruction, interiority and exteriority, collectivity and singularity, as well as strength and vulnerability. It’s beauty and politics delve into darker aspects of femininity that lie concealed, dormant or just beneath the surface such as the predatory and the seductive. I currently adapt narratives of female characters with leviathan-like qualities whose struggle symbolises a confrontation with social norms. With a focus on the uncompromising, unbridled and primordial nature of these creatures, my work harbors an aesthetic that is both dangerous and sensual.

Friend of Behemoth is based on a biblical leviathan character that is often coupled with Behemoth. Their true gender remains a debate. They are used to describe unbridled power. My version is of course, female.

Leviathan Series, Primordial 2017

Primordial is the chaotic soup that made up our world before culture was born. This role is often played and embodied by Leviathans or sea monsters in mythology.

Cherry 2016

The Garden 2016

The Hunt 2016

Tales of Former Objecthood

Paper Pedestal, first image from top, 2009, paper, fire, charcoal, 4' x 8.5" x 11, Paper Pedestal ignites the Tales of Former Object-hood saga in which I developed my own studio ritual, which I refer to as regenerative acts of material destruction. This ritual includes destroying the material that my art work is made up of, in order to create the next work of art.

Paper Pedestal, second image from top, 2009, paper, fire, charcoal, detail. Through the transformation of material, Paper Pedestal reveals the space between drawing and sculpture, destruction and creation, order and chaos, as well as strength and vulnerability. 10,000 sheets of paper are stacked to resemble a pedestal which is where sculpture is displayed. Then slowly a whole was burned through the center of the stack, returning the paper pedestal into a drawing material, charcoal. The destruction of this orderly 8 1/2” x 11” structure creates an ambiguous orifice, threatening potential transformation into an organic entity.

Tiny Relic-Paper Pedestal, third image from top, 2009, paper, fire, charcoal, 11” x 8.5” x 2”. Throughout the regenerative process of creating Tales of Former Object-hood, Tiny Relics were salvaged. This piece is a shallow stack extracted from the center of Paper Pedestal. It is one of five relics that have been preserved.

Paper Pedestal Reincarnate-Minimalist Block, fourth image, 2009, paper, fire, charcoal, 3” x 8.5” x 11”. Paper Pedestal is then reincarnated into a 3" x 8 1/2" x 11" minimalist block. The black dense, mysterious object still harbors some resemblance to its former state, retaining its 8 1/2 x 11 dimensions. It is the height that has changed from 4.5' to 3". Using fire as a regenerative act of material destruction, the piece evolves from a conventional pedestal to a minimalist block.

Tiny Relic-Minimalist Block Reincarnate, images five six and seven from top, 2009, paper, fire, charcoal, 2” x 6” x 5”. These fossil-like formations are three of five relics that have been rescued from the making of Tales of Former Object-hood. These pieces were developed via the destruction of Paper Pedestal in order to develop Paper Pedestal Reincarnate-Minimalist Block. The paper stack was sent through three cycles of burning in 1600 degrees fahrenheit for 40 minutes. Despite this exposure to tremendous heat, these piles refused to disintegrate completely into particle carbon material.

Minimalist Block Reincarnate-Drawing Install Phase 1, images eight through ten, 2010, paper, fire, charcoal 10’ x 16’. The following series of large 10’ x 16’ drawing installations were completed in nine phases. Using the Minimalist Block as a drawing device, I made aggressive, impactful gestures to mark the wall until the block broke. I stopped only to document each phase following each fracture.

At this point, the paper Pedestal has endured two sculptural life spans in the form of a pedestal and a minimalist block, to become a performative drawing of a landscape.

Tiny Relic-Drawing Install, last image from top, 2010, paper, fire, charcoal, glass, 12" x 12" x 12”. Tiny Relic-Drawing Install is the final genesis in the Tales of Former Object-hood saga. It is the remaining material of the process of making the Drawing Installation contained in an elliptical glass urn.

Crater

Crater, 2010, paper, fire, charcoal, 5" x 72" x 36”. The phenomenon of fire harbors all the associative comforts of warmth, the hearth, love, sex, and creation as well as the associative discomforts of painful burning, hell, hate, and destruction. In no other place are these two extremes within such close proximity as in geologic rebirths such as volcanic eruptions. The most fertile soil on the planet is produced by these seemingly destructive events. Crater depicts the scar and dramatization of an extinct volcano in Flagstaff, Arizona. The shape is based on a topographical map of the site. Like the actual crater, this piece was shaped by the hand of fire.

Fertile Landscape

Fertile Landscape, first image from the top, 2010, paper, fire, charcoal, walls, 3.5’ x 8’ x 4’. Fertile Landscape is an installation made up of thousands and thousands of sheets of black burned paper that were stacked and arranged to resemble a landscape horizon line. The completion of this piece lies to rest and reincarnate at I-park Artists Enclave in Connecticut.

Fertile LandscapeIn-between, second image from the top, 2010, paper, fire, 3.5’ x 8’ x 4’. This is documentation of the process of breaking down Fertile Landscape and making From Landscape To Culture, From Culture to Landscape.

From Landscape To Culture, From Culture to Landscape, third image from the top, 2010, paper, fire, charcoal, starch, soil, installation view. The completion of this work was contingent upon finding a site, I-Park Artists Enclave in Connecticut, to install the next permutation of Fertile Landscape which was to consist of these tomb like blocks. Each of these blocks were cast in the carbon-particle material that made up Fertile Landscape. As the carbon sculptures broke down into carbon particle material via rain, wind, and other erosion, it would be eaten by the earth. In the wake of its own death, Fertile Landscape would essentially breath new life into the site.

Drawing - Sculptor's Drawing

Sculptors Drawing, 2009, paper, fire, charcoal, 36” x 52” . The following body of work was inspired by a Central American Indigenous Myth about a goddess that the Aztec call Coatlicue, whom is in essence a personification of the life and death cycles that the earth performs. This piece marks the infancy of developing a studio ritual that used art language to illustrate this concept.

Drawings-Lullabies and New Language

These drawings are part of a series entitled Lullabies and New Language, which entails a self reflexive examination that draws upon mythologies and realms such as, mysticism, science fiction, religious lore, and psychology.

Opal Relic

Opal Relic, first image from the top, 2008, nail polish, plastic, and latex paint, dimensions variable Installation view at Dallas Contemporary. This work lures the viewer into its formal grasp, placing them in a landscape comprised of beauty products and plastic disposable items which are void of any history, illustrating societies obsessive quest to preserve beauty and youth.

Opal Relic, second image from the top, 2008, nail polish, plastic, and latex paint, Full Installation view at Dallas Contemporary.

Under the Dev's Pillow

Under the Dev's Pillow, 2007, nail polish, plastic, wood, and LED lights, 5' x 5.5' x 4'. This work examines issues of identity and gender in relation to our cultural landscape by liberating gender-geared materials, such as nail polish, from their conventional uses.

Systems

Systems - Puella Pattern, 2006, first image from top - detail, nail polish, plastic, wood, 8' x 12' x 4'. This work examines issues of identity and gender in relation to our cultural landscape by liberating gender-geared materials, such as nail polish, from their conventional uses.This work examines issues of identity and gender in relation to our cultural landscape by liberating gender-geared materials, such as nail polish, from their conventional uses. All of these works are abstract depictions of biological systems made out of synthetic materials such as acrylic plastic and nail polish, which cause a chemical reaction when combined. The depicted fractures are the result.

Curatorial - People's Gallery 2013

The following images are from curatorial design for the People’s Gallery Exhibition in 2013 at Austin’s City Hall. The exhibit featured over 100 works of art by over 75 artists. A variety of media were included (installation, sculpture, photography, painting, drawing, and printing to name a few). Featured artists in the following images include installations by Michael Anthony Garcia and Dameon Lester.

Curatorial - Pretty Young Thing

The following images are from curatorial design for the Pretty Young Thing Exhibition in 2009 n Providence, Rhode Island. The exhibit featured seven large scale installations in a downtown store front property. Featured artists in the following images include installations by Joshua Webb, Anders Johnson, and Brett Windham.

Curatorial - Open Doors Collective

The following images are from curatorial design for the Open Doors Collective. The exhibit featured nine large scale installations by nine artists in a downtown store-front in Austin, Texas. Featured artists in the following images include installations by Hunter Cross, Alexander Villareal, Cole Thompson, and Sandra Martinez.